Invisible Evidence and Just Because
by M-Maltesers
Summary: None of it had been Kaidou’s idea from the beginning. He hadn't wanted the stupid photograph of Momo nor had he asked for it, but it didn't stop him from keeping it under his pillow. MomoKai.
1. Invisible Evidence

Notes: Originally posted on LJ, Nov. 2006. Written for Uo-chan.

**Invisible Evidence**

By Miki

None of it had been Kaidou's idea from the beginning.

_He_ hadn't wanted the stupid photo, but Fuji-senpai had found an old Polaroid camera and brought it to training.

Kaidou didn't think Fuji-senpai should have done that, and it had been really annoying when he'd taken happy snaps of everyone mid-match, because, as Kikumaru-senpai had put it, it was pretty hard to beat Ochibi-chan while you were trying to look good for the camera.

Kaidou hadn't played Echizen, and he hadn't grinned like an idiot for the camera, and he'd really wished Tezuka would tell Fuji to go away and do something… like training.

But he hadn't.

So then Fuji had said that he said he wanted to test the camera out on someone, and Echizen had pointed out that he'd been testing it out all afternoon.

Fuji had just smiled and given Momoshiro a look as he and Kaidou were both walking past.

Kaidou had gotten that horrid sinking feeling in his stomach then – like Fuji-senpai was just going to ask him to do something he didn't really want to do at all, but he wouldn't be able to say no because to say no to his senpai was something he'd never really consider, except when it was Fuji-senpai, but even then, he couldn't say no because he was too afraid of what Fuji would do to him if he did say no – but the idiot had just grinned and joked that Fuji wouldn't have a complete collection if he didn't take a photo of Mamushi.

Then he'd said that Fuji had better take a picture of his back, because it was his only good side.

Kaidou punched him.

Momoshiro threw his racquet down and returned the favour.

Fuji had pressed the button.

The camera clicked.

Whirred.

And out slid a white frame and a shiny, black photograph, yet to develop in the light.

After that, they'd both argued some more and Fuji had simply smiled and told them they looked like a happily married couple.

Kikumaru-senpai had grinned and said they made a good couple and asked why they still called each other dumb names like Mamushi and Idiot instead of Kaoru-chan and Take-chan.

"Mamu-chan doesn't sound very romantic, nya!"

By that point, Momoshiro had snatched the now-developed Polaroid from Fuji-senpai and was staring at it strangely.

So Kaidou grabbed it off him.

And then sometime between realising the fact that he'd registered that the photo looked exceptionally incriminating and noticing the fact that Fuji-senpai had snapped the moment where their heads had banged together – stupid idiot! His head was so hard that Kaidou's was still throbbing there – he'd realised Momoshiro was trying to yank the photo out of his hands.

Kaidou had pulled on his side.

Momoshiro had pulled on his.

And, rather inevitably, the photo ended up in half.

"Momo-senpai," Echizen drawled, "you don't have to fight over that one; there are more over here, you know."

Kaidou and Momoshiro stared at him in horror.

Fuji, finding amusement in it, just smiled.

Kikumaru was next to him, flapping his arms manically, trying to get the next photos developed so he could see them.

"Oh! You look really good in this one Momo! You really look like you're hugging Kaidou! See? See your arms? Hey Fuji! You're really good at this!"

Kaidou wanted to find a hole and die in it.

(S)

When he finished changing his pyjamas later that night, he dropped down onto his bed and sighed.

His homework books sat on his desk, and he got up again to put them into his school bag ready for the morning.

When he opened the bag though, he remembered the photo he'd shoved into his shorts, and hurriedly looked around.

It's not like he really cared about it or anything; he just didn't want anyone else to find the stupid thing first.

If Hazue found it, who knew what he would think?

His mother would probably want to frame it or something.

Kaidou shuddered at the thought of Momoshiro's ugly face ever gracing their wall.

(S)

When Kaidou went to school the next day, Kikumaru gave him a copy of the last photo Fuji had taken.

It was the one where Tezuka had been standing behind Fuji and he, Momoshiro and Kikumaru had found themselves in a rather sticky situation.

Oishi hadn't said much, but he had a disappointed look on his face.

Fuji had zoomed in on their faces then.

Momoshiro looked like a deer caught in the headlights and Kaidou was scowling rather unhappily.

Neither of them looked great.

Neither of them was really photogenic.

Kaidou thought Fuji-senpai should have burnt the stupid thing instead of making copies, but Fuji never did what anyone else wanted him to, so Kaidou shoved that photo into the pocket of his school pants and gave a gruff thanks to Kikumaru-senpai, who was looking at him with big, bright eyes and smiling like he thought Kaidou should be happy.

(S)

Later that night when Kaidou remembered that photo, he fished it out of the pocket of his pants and picked up the other one that he'd put into his desk drawer.

He sat down on the edge of his bed and scowled at them both, looking back and forth between the two.

The torn one only had a picture of his arm in it, but it had most of Momoshiro's head – minus some of his hair – and he was baring his teeth like a dog.

Kaidou thought that if he really were a dog, he wouldn't go near him.

He'd probably be the type to bite and drool and carry rabies.

He definitely wouldn't be cute at all.

Not that he was thinking about Momoshiro like that.

A moment later, when Kaidou's mother knocked on the door, Kaidou panicked and instinctively shoved the photos under his pillow, not even stopping to think about what he was doing.

She peeked around the door and smiled at him, wishing him a good night, and then closed it again.

Kaidou let out a breath he'd been holding in and slumped a little.

At least she'd never find them there.

(S)

Three days later, when Hazue was complaining about itchy bites and Kaidou told him it was because he'd been playing with dogs that had fleas, Kaidou's mother thought it would be a good idea to change Hazue's bed sheets.

Then, since doing things in twos had become a habit, she began changing Kaoru's as well.

When she lifted up his pillow, she blinked as she saw two pieces of white card and, turning them over, she realised that they were photos.

For a moment, her mind was completely blank.

She'd seen the boy in the photos before.

He'd once come to their house to pick up Kaoru to play tennis and she'd thought nothing more of it.

Of course, just because she hadn't seen him much didn't mean he wasn't important to Kaoru, and she smiled at the thought that her son was perhaps better at fostering relationships than she'd previously thought.

His shyness could sometimes worry her, but this boy seemed nice enough, and he was certainly loud enough to bring Kaidou out of his shell.

What was his name again? She wondered.

She had to admit that neither photo was terribly good, though she was tempted to make a copy of the one that wasn't torn.

It was rare that her son ever willingly stood still for photos now, and she hesitated a little before placing the photos back upside down on the bed sheet and placing his pillow back on top.

She troubled herself for a few moments, trying to remember the way the wrinkles had been on the material, and then slipped out of the room, deciding that she wouldn't mention it to Kaoru.

(S)

When Kaidou came back from training the next day, he stumbled up the stairs to his room and found himself flopping onto his bed before he'd realised it.

Then he sat up again and realised that his bed looked different somehow.

He remembered suddenly that he'd left those photos under his pillow, and cursed under his breath.

He hoped no one had seen them…

But it wasn't the weekend, so his mother shouldn't have wanted to change the sheets yet…

He scrambled to turn around and pull his pillow off the bed, his heart stopping for a moment before he realised that yes; the photos were still there.

He turned them over, blinking as he realised how dumb he was acting over a couple of pieces of paper, and then he scowled.

Momoshiro… That idiot.

It was all _his_ fault.

Kaidou had never wanted stupid freaking photos with his ugly face in them.

But that didn't stop him from turning them back over and placing them carefully flat on the sheets.

He smoothed the sheets around them and put his pillow back on top.

And a moment later, he lifted it up again, just to check that they were still sitting there.

Not that he really cared or anything.

.fin.


	2. Just Because

Archive: No.

Notes: Sequel, companion piece to 'Invisible Evidence'. Enjoy.

**Just Because**

By Miki

Momoshiro didn't really understand how it could have happened.

Logically, there was no reason why… _that thing_... should have ended up in his bag.

He'd been walking back to the bike racks with Echizen, when he realised he'd forgotten his jersey in the change room so he'd had to run all the way back there.

Echizen had just told him he was stupid and to hurry up, and Momo would have grabbed him and roughed him up a bit for it, except that he knew he had to get back before Oishi-senpai locked the door for the day, so he did what Echizen said and ran for it.

Echizen just smirked at him and Momo cursed the boy's totally un-cute attitude as he went.

_Brat_.

He managed to get there just as Oishi was pulling the key out of the lock, and even though Oishi gave him a funny look, he still unlocked the door again, sighing a little and looking a bit worried.

Kikumaru bounced around, asking him if his head hurt and if he'd apologised to Kaidou yet, and didn't he think it was kind of mean that Fuji didn't get any punishment when he'd started the whole thing? There was something suspicious about Fuji lately, wasn't there? He always looked like he was up to something…

Momoshiro would rather have not been reminded of his fight with Kaidou.

It was just another one, after all; nothing special or new…

Except that he hadn't really been in the mood for it, and he could tell Kaidou hadn't really cared either.

But they'd been standing back to back in the change room – Momo talking to Echizen and Kaidou listening to Inui – and Fuji had said that they looked pretty when they stood next to each other like that and that if they'd just turn around so their chests were together and not their backs, wouldn't they look even prettier?

Then Kaidou had to go and get cranky again, saying he didn't want to stand next to an idiot like Momo, and that had pissed Momo off because he'd even been half nice to Mamushi today, like when Momo had accidentally poured water on Kaidou's towel, at least he'd offered him his in exchange.

Kaidou had said his towel stunk and gone off in a huff

Momo had glared at him as he walked off, but it didn't feel good unless Kaidou knew he was glaring at him.

So then when Fuji had teased them both again in the change room afterwards, he hadn't waited a second before retorting.

He didn't want to stand next to Kaidou either.

Who wanted to stand next to something that'd probably bite him anyway?

At any rate, none of that explained why Kaidou's shirt had ended up in his bag.

Somewhere between leaving Echizen with his bag and bike, and getting back from the change room with his jersey, _someone_ must have switched their shirts because _he_ sure didn't want Kaidou's shirt enough to steal it from him.

He'd decided it was all Kaidou's fault, damn it!

And now he was stuck here, standing in front of Kaidou's door, because there was no way he was taking Kaidou's freaking dirty shirt home for his mother to wash.

(S)

Momo hadn't been intending to stay at all.

He hadn't really wanted to go inside either, just in case Kaidou's house was weird or something.

He'd always suspected the rest of Kaidou's family could be just as screwed as he was, since, after all, it had to come from somewhere, right? Or maybe Kaidou was just a freak of nature and the rest of his family thought he was as stupid and annoying as Momo thought he was.

Kaidou's mother had known who he was though, which had surprised him and made him feel kind of funny and pleased at the same time, and she'd told him that Kaidou was still out of the house with Inui and wouldn't be back for a while.

At that point Momoshiro had considered that maybe he could wash the shirt himself, since he didn't want his mother to know he had someone else's shirt in case she thought something weird…

And then he'd mentally slapped himself and wondered why he should have to wash Mamushi's shirt at all.

He'd just give it back dirty tomorrow and it would serve Kaidou right since it was obviously all his fault since it wasn't Momo's, and there was no way he was giving it back to Kaidou's mother right now.

All mothers were the same; always thinking really weird things.

If he took home Kaidou's shirt, his would probably think they were actually friends or something.

But then, as Momoshiro was thinking and wondering if giving back Kaidou's shirt dirty tomorrow would mean he'd also get his back dirty and then they'd both have dirty shirts and everyone else would think weird thoughts, Kaidou's mother had offered him food.

Cheesecake, actually.

And then Kaidou's little brother had walked out from the kitchen and stared at him.

Momoshiro had stared at the rather large, rather… nice-looking piece of cake – it looked like strawberry or boysenberry cheesecake – on Hazue's plate and decided he wouldn't mind sticking around for a while, just until Kaidou got back.

He wasn't going to hang around after that though.

Definitely not.

He was just sticking around for the food, and because he had to get rid of the stupid shirt.

(S)

Momoshiro thought it was weird that Hazue turned out to be so normal.

What was even weirder was that Momo found himself looking at Hazue more than once, and thinking he was almost cute, though he was kind of like a mini version of Kaidou.

Without the ugly scowl though, and without the angry flash in his eyes.

As he ate his cheesecake and then had seconds, and thirds – just because Kaidou's mother was offering and it seemed rude to turn her down – he wondered if Kaidou had looked like that when he was a kid.

Maybe he'd been born with that look on his face.

Stupid snake.

(S)

So Momo had only been staying for the cake, but he couldn't help it if Kaidou's mother was practically pushing him in the direction of Kaidou's room and telling him Kaidou would be disappointed if he didn't stay.

He wasn't the type of person to turn down requests from people, and he had to admit he was kind of curious about Kaidou too…

Plus, it seemed like Hazue was supposed to be doing his homework at the kitchen table and Momo would only be distracting if he stayed there.

The cheesecake and Hazue's chess set had been put away, and Momo thought it was kind of cute how Hazue called him 'Momo-nii-chan' and told him he was better than his brother at playing the game.

Momo couldn't wait to rub that one in Kaidou's face.

So now he was sitting on Kaidou's floor, legs spread out, leaning backwards on the palms of his hands and staring up at Kaidou's ceiling.

He wondered what Kaidou would think when he got home and found him here.

He'd probably be pissed off.

He guessed if he got home and found Kaidou in his room, he'd be angry too.

And then he thought, perhaps he should go home.

For a moment, he nearly gave in to the idea, but it was nearly time that Kaidou came back and he hadn't hung around for nothing.

Kaidou's room was actually pretty neat.

Momo had thought maybe he'd have cool stuff around, like manga or magazines or maybe he had a secret stash of porn or something that he could find and tease him about later.

But there was nothing within sight.

The books on the shelf were neat and obviously arranged, and the papers on his desk were stacked.

There were some DVDs on the bookshelf too, but they were boring ones, like instructional ones on how to improve your tennis and how to find inner peace.

Momoshiro thought someone should tell Kaidou they obviously weren't working, and wanted to ask him where the hell he got them from anyway.

He had a few photos up too, but when Momoshiro stood up and walked over to them to get a better look, he found they were just family photos.

Still, there had to be _something_ around _somewhere_, and Momoshiro's eyes fell on the bed.

Under the bed?

No.

He frowned for a moment and glanced at the door, suddenly wondering if Kaidou's mother was going to walk in and catch him.

Was it wrong to be snooping around in here?

Kaidou would probably do it to him if he had the chance too.

It was only fair, Momo decided, and eyed the smooth sheets on the bed for a moment before he decided the last place left was under the pillow.

Not that normal people put stuff under their pillows; it was too easy to find things there.

Momo had shoved a magazine there once, but he'd forgotten about it and when his mother had found it a week later, it hadn't been a pretty scene.

Then he'd had to endure a stupid talk from his dad, who had just told him to find a better hiding spot so they didn't have to go through this routine again.

Momo agreed.

He didn't want to go through that experience with his parents again and he'd learnt his lesson.

Normal people didn't put things under their pillows.

Still, it didn't stop him from picking up Kaidou's, snickering at the fact he had pretty girly-coloured sheets, and checking.

(S)

Kaidou opened the front door and blinked as he found himself face to face with his mother.

"I'm back."

"Welcome home," she smiled, looking happy.

Kaidou heard the sound of Hazue's feet coming towards them, and then saw his brother's head peek around the corner.

"Guess who came over today," he said loudly, and Kaidou noted the fact he was forgetting his manners in his excitement.

"Who?" he responded, changing his shoes and shifting his heavy bags on his shoulders.

"Momo-nii-chan!" Hazue responded.

Afterwards, Kaidou's mother cringed as her son made a beeline – a noisy beeline – for his room, and wondered if she'd been mistaken about the two of them.

"He's just jealous because he can't beat me at chess and Momo-nii can," Hazue declared innocently, hearing his brother's loud footsteps.

Inui came over sometimes, and he'd once told Hazue he didn't really mind when Kaidou was grumpy.

Hazue however, wasn't sure he'd agree.

(S)

Momo blinked.

He wondered if he was imagining things.

Putting down the pillow on the floor so he didn't crinkle the bed sheets any more, he hesitated before picking up the two white pieces of card on Kaidou's bed.

He wondered what they were.

They could have been letters, or notes… Though they weren't exactly the right shape.

And besides, what girl in her right mind would give Kaidou a letter anyway?

Still, he wasn't sure what else they'd be…

Kaidou wasn't exactly the sentimental type, so for a moment, the thought that his team mate might actually be was enough to make him want to laugh.

And then he turned over the papers, and found himself staring at them in shock.

(S)

"Do you think Momo-nii-chan will come over again?" Hazue asked, playing with his pencil.

"If you do your homework, I'm sure he will," was Kaidou's mother's response, and Hazue pouted.

"That's what you always say."

"Well it's true."

Hazue sighed.

"Then… if I do my homework, can I have a double serve of dessert?"

Hazue thought that if he were Momo, his mother would let him have three. He hoped Momo did come over again though. He'd ask his brother when he wasn't so grumpy anymore.

(S)

When Kaidou opened the door to his room, the first thing he saw was Momoshiro.

On his bed.

With his hands behind his back.

And a stupid grin on his face.

Momoshiro held his hands up in a vague gesture of innocence, but then he realised Kaidou hadn't seen him shove the pictures back onto the bed along with the pillow, and instead returned the glare he was receiving.

Wasn't he allowed to be there? He argued. Kaidou's mother had invited him and he wasn't doing anything to Kaidou's stuff, was he? Was there something Kaidou didn't want him to find in his room? Was that why he was going red in the face and getting pissed off?

If Momo had had time to think, he'd have noticed that Kaidou was in his face faster than he'd been the entire week.

But he didn't have time to think –

"You stupid idiot!" Kaidou yelled out, "what's your problem anyway? Who said you could come over? Huh?"

"What're you talking about?" Momo yelled back.

They were both grasping each other's shirts now.

Momo could feel the buttons on his school shirt straining.

Kaidou was pulling pretty hard, and he had to lean backwards a bit so his forehead didn't hit Kaidou's.

"You think I wanted to come over and see you? It's all your fault anyway since you've got my shirt, stupid snake! What'd you go and do that for anyway?" he yelled back, even though he didn't really think Kaidou had swapped their shirts over.

"Huh?"

The look of confusion on Kaidou's face was enough to throw Momoshiro for a moment.

Hadn't he noticed?

Maybe it was lucky they'd let go of each other's shirts slightly, because then they both heard footsteps coming up the hallway. They only managed to jump apart just as Kaidou's mother appeared.

She held a tray of drinks in her hands and smiled at Kaidou. "Having a nice time, Kaoru? If you want anything else, I'll be downstairs. Don't let Momoshiro-kun get hungry, okay?"

After she'd left, Momo eyed the two glasses she'd placed on Kaidou's desk. Suddenly he didn't feel like food or drinks anymore. He almost opened his mouth to tease Kaidou about the photos too, but something in Kaidou's expression stopped him. It occurred to him that maybe Kaidou wouldn't actually be the sort of person to snoop around his stuff after all.

The silence was awkward, and Momoshiro sighed and reached for his bag.

He'd come here to swap their shirts back, hadn't he? So he might as well get it over with so he could hurry up and go home…

Kaidou looked surprised when he found Momo's shirt in his bag. He didn't say anything, and Momo wondered why he wasn't saying something like 'it stinks' or 'your shirt smells as bad as you do'. It was kind of weird, and Momo glanced around the room again, trying to ignore the silence between them.

His eyes fell on something on the desk, and he blinked. How come he hadn't noticed that there before?

"Hey Mamushi, I didn't know you liked this kind of stuff," he blurted out suddenly, forgetting what he was doing.

Kaidou watched him warily as he picked the DVD up off the desk, awed by the cover and the fact that it was a first issue, limited edition release.

He'd heard it had sold out pretty fast, so Kaidou must have really wanted it to have bought a copy.

"I don't," Kaidou hissed, turning around abruptly.

"As if!" Momo retorted, looking at the cover again.

Kaidou was just being weird again. Everyone liked this stuff!

"Can we watch it? Have you watched it already?" he asked, excitement overcoming the nagging feeling that asking to stay at Kaidou's house was really weird and if Fuji-senpai heard about it, he'd have a field day.

Kaidou hissed again.

"I already watched it," he scowled, and snatched the box from Momoshiro's hands.

A moment later, both of them feeling odd again, Kaidou asked "Why would you say something stupid like that anyway?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Momo still felt like he needed to respond to it.

"Just because."

(S)

Later, when Momo had gone, Kaidou sat at his desk and glared at the DVD.

Inui had given it to him because he'd once caught Kaidou watching a rerun of the TV show.

Kaidou had told him he wasn't really watching it and it was only on the TV because Hazue had just gone out of the room for a moment, but Inui had just adjusted his glasses and told him that there was a seventy-seven percent chance that Kaidou was really watching it and just didn't want to admit it, which was okay, but given the ratings for that show, Inui was pretty sure that most of the population had tried watching it at one time or another.

He'd lied when he said he'd already watched it, because he was waiting for a time when his parents and Hazue weren't home.

Kaidou wondered why, for a moment, he'd considered calling Momo back and telling him they could watch it together. Why would he even think of doing that? What was wrong with him today?

He flopped forwards and let his forehead touch the surface of his desk, staring cross-eyed at the wood.

He stayed like that until his mother came in, asking him why Momoshiro wasn't staying for dinner since she'd even made extra just in case he was. Kaidou mused over the fact that she'd probably have to cook double what she normally did.

Just before dinner, he got up from his chair and went over to his bed, pulling out the photos from under his pillow. He should probably find a better place to put them since it was kind of lucky his mum still hadn't found them.

Everything Momo did was so annoying, he thought, opening his desk drawer and putting them in there. Stupid Momoshiro.

(S)

Momoshiro pushed open the front door of his house and sighed a little at the noise that was coming from the kitchen. It sounded like his brother and sister were already eating their before-dinner snacks and were still arguing over that morning's episode of whatever that show with the pink, fluffy, talking creature was…

Momo refused to get involved in such a petty argument, though he wasn't averse to arguing over who ate the last tub of ice cream in the freezer. It had even been his favourite flavour too, and now he'd have to wait until the next time his mother went shopping to get any more.

"Oh, Takeshi," his mother greeted, looking busy and eyeing the open freezer door with suspicion. "What are you looking for?"

"Nothing," he said, and closed the door.

His mother gave him a look that clearly said she didn't believe him, but let the subject drop anyway. Growing boys were rather prone to snacking between meals, but she suspected that with Takeshi, his stomach was growing faster than the rest of him.

"I put your washing outside your bedroom door, okay?"

Momo pulled a face.

"You're going to have to clean your room, you know, or I won't buy any more of that ice cream you like," she scolded. "Honestly, I couldn't even get in to put your washing on your bed, so you'd better put it away before your father comes home."

Momo scowled.

"Takeshi," his mother said warningly, and he grunted.

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, sulking a bit as he shuffled to his room.

His room wasn't messy at all, jeez. If his mother really wanted to know the meaning of the word messy, she should pay more attention to his siblings and not to him.

Why did she still clean their rooms and why did he have to clean his own by himself? Sure, he didn't really want his mother snooping through his stuff, but…

The thought reminded him of the photos Kaidou had under his pillow and he paused for a moment. He'd been thinking about it while he'd ridden home, but… He couldn't remember where he'd put his, and it bothered him more than it should.

He was starting to think that maybe he just hadn't taken them out of the pocket of his school pants, but then… did that mean they'd gone through the washing machine?

Momo imagined the mess they'd make as they tossed and turned and inevitably got soggy and bent and ruined…

Once, he'd tried to do a load of washing by himself. He hadn't wanted his mother to see the mess he'd made of his clothes so he'd thrown them into the machine and poured in a scoop of liquid… But he'd forgotten about the napkin he'd left in his pocket and his clothes got covered in white fluff.

So he figured he would have heard about it by now if the photos had also gone through the wash. And if they hadn't, where else were they?

It wasn't like he really cared, but at least if he found the stupid things, then he could stick Kaidou's face on the wall and throw stuff at it when he was peeved.

Stupid Mamushi.

Momo reached his room and walked in, over the piles of stuff on his floor, and flopped down on his bed. Maybe Fuji-senpai had copies. But wouldn't that be weird, asking him for them?

Momo wondered why had Kaidou kept his anyway. And why would he put them under his _pillow_?

Momo just didn't get it. Didn't Kaidou hate him? Didn't he hate Kaidou?

Momo thought about the ways he liked to rile Mamushi up on court. He thought about how he hated seeing Mamushi's face first thing in the morning and then again in the afternoons.

He thought about how he hated it when he was called on in English and he got the answer wrong, and then how Kaidou almost always got the answer right. He hated the way Kaidou always looked so sure of himself in that class, like he knew he had the right answer. He'd stand up straight and read from the book, or recite a sentence, and not even care that Momo was sitting behind him and wanting to pull faces at him.

Momo thought it was fun to annoy Kaidou. He didn't like it when the other boy ignored him. Then he ended up being the one who was annoyed.

He liked it when Kaidou got the wrong answers though, because his face would twitch a bit and his frown would get worse, and Momo would feel satisfied and smug and know Mamushi would be just a little bit easier to piss off at the next training session.

Sometimes Momo bettered him in other things though, which kind of made up for it…

His mother had once told him you could tell if you really needed something by imagining what you'd do without it.

Sure, she'd been talking about the excessive number of trading cards, the various souvenirs and bits of trash he kept scattered over his floor, but Momo had applied her philosophy to other things too and he'd concluded it worked.

Hamburgers, for example.

Momoshiro couldn't imagine life without hamburgers, so he figured they were a necessity, and as such, he ought to ask his parents for more money to cover his needs.

Kaidou wasn't a hamburger, or a trading card…

But when Momoshiro thought about him like that, he didn't know what he'd do without Kaidou either.

(S)

He hadn't realised it, but he was pretty tired out from the day's training, and perhaps eating three large pieces of cheesecake _after_ eating three burgers with Echizen was just a little too much for his stomach.

As he dragged himself off his bed – his mother having called him more than once for dinner already – he slipped on a piece of paper on the floor, and wondered if maybe he really should clean his room. Or maybe he could just push everything under the bed.

Well, either way, he should probably shove his washing into his drawers before his dad came home and saw it sitting in the hallway.

So he trudged out of his room and glared down at the pile of washing on the floor. Kaidou's face glared back at him.

Momo blinked. And blinked again.

Then he snatched up the photo and ran, feet thumping on the floor, to the kitchen.

He rounded the doorway and waved the photo, ignoring the wide-eyed looks and giggles coming from his brother and sister at the table.

"Mum! Hey, mum! Where'd you find this?" he practically yelled.

She turned around and gave him an odd look, more because of the fact that he was disturbing dinner than because he'd startled her with his feet and his loud voice. After thirteen years, she'd gotten used to the fact that he had a tendency to get overexcited about things.

"It was in one of your pairs of track pants," she scolded. "Really, Takeshi, you need to be more careful."

"Yeah, yeah," Momo said, dismissing her advice as he always did.

He grinned at the photo, feeling kind of relieved and happy and stupid, but that was okay.

Mamushi wasn't here to see him so he'd never know. Momo would die before he let Kaidou know something like this.

"Oh, and Takeshi?" his mother called out, as he was about to run back up to his room.

"Huh?"

She ignored the 'huh' and served another bowl of rice.

"You need to put things into the wash more often so they don't start smelling, you know."

Momo scowled and blushed a little. "I do," he insisted, a little stubbornly.

His mother raised an eyebrow slightly and let the statement go uncontested, though she wanted to point out that he rarely put anything in the wash without her having to remind him first.

"The other one was in your school pants too," she added, just in case he didn't know. "Really, photos are such precious things, you ought to take more care of them next time. And that one's already a bit dog-eared, you know, though I put it under the phone book for a little while to flatten it back out."

Momoshiro blinked. "The other one?"

From the kitchen table, his little sister grinned at him and waved what looked like a scrap of paper with a torn edge.

Momoshiro felt his face going pink. "Give me that," he demanded, and practically threw himself at the table.

His mother only sighed when the plates and bowls nearly jumped right off. That was another thing she'd gotten used to in thirteen years.

She watched as her son shoved the photos straight back into the pocket of his school pants and sighed. She'd have to remember to check again when she put them into the wash.

(S)

The next morning, Echizen happened to mention that Fuji-senpai had come along right after Momo had run back to the change room the afternoon before. Momoshiro groaned when Echizen told it to him, and wondered if Echizen was hiding anything else.

Echizen was quick to leave him once they'd reached the school gates, even though Momo cursed him when he nearly got his foot caught in the rack, trying to catch up to him. He rolled his eyes.

Echizen was the most un-cute junior he'd ever had.

Then he bent over to tie his shoelace, and realised there was something in his pocket still. He stood up and pulled out the two photos. He ran a hand through his hair as he stared at them, wondering why they felt like they were more trouble than they were really worth.

"Oi."

Momo turned around, photos once again shoved into his pocket.

"Don't stand in the middle of the path, idiot," Kaidou scowled at him, and Momoshiro was quick to scowl back, eager to cover up his embarrassment.

He hoped Kaidou hadn't noticed what was in his hand just a moment before.

"You could walk around, stupid snake!" he pointed out loudly, gesturing to the space on either side.

Jeez, why'd Mamushi have to make things hard?

Kaidou's scowl faltered for a moment and he gave Momo a thoughtful look for a moment. Then he ducked his head and walked past.

Momo frowned in confusion.

"Oi Mamushi, what's with you?" he asked, shuffling his bag on his shoulder and running a few steps to catch up.

Kaidou hissed.

They walked toward the club house together, and Momo glanced sideways at Kaidou, wondering what was wrong with him. He was acting weird today. Was it something Momo had said? Then he snorted and Kaidou stopped walking and glared at him.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"What am I doing? I'm walking, aren't I?" Momo responded, half-confused and half-angry.

Whenever Kaidou said things to him like that, he felt like he was being accused of doing something he'd done wrong.

Kaidou didn't bite back however, and started walking again.

Now Momo really knew there was something wrong with him, and, feeling kind of awkward, he caught up and threw his arm around Kaidou's shoulders like he might have done to Eiji-senpai or Echizen. Kaidou was neither of the two though, and tensed at the touch.

"Hey Mamushi," Momo said, ploughing on, "really, what's wrong with you? Wake up on the right side of the bed or something?"

Kaidou shoved him hard then. Momo hadn't expected it and stumbled backwards, ending up landing on his backside, sprawled and groaning a little. He was going to get right back up and give Kaidou an earful, but then he realised Kaidou was simply staring at him with wide eyes.

"Huh? H-hey Mamushi!"

Kaidou's face turned pink then, and he turned around and stomped into the building.

Oishi emerged from the door a moment later, looking worried and looking even more worried once he saw Momoshiro sitting on the ground.

Momo felt kind of funny. All of a sudden, he couldn't really describe it, but it was sort of a weird, painful feeling in his chest.

But it felt kind of good too.

"Momo," Oishi said, kneeling down. "You alright?"

Momo nodded and stuck his fingers into his right pocket, feeling for the photos. He couldn't feel them, and he was about to panic when he spotted them on the ground. Maybe they'd just been pushed out when he'd fallen. At any rate, it was kind of lucky they were sitting face up.

They weren't great photos. His hand was in the torn one, and most of Kaidou's face too. He looked stupid, like he normally looked. He looked angry like he was about to take a bite of someone's head, and his teeth were showing. They were surprisingly white, and Momo wondered why he hadn't noticed before.

Kaidou would have looked a lot better if he'd just have smiled.

Not that either of them had known Fuji-senpai would take a picture then…

Had Momo ever seen Kaidou smile?

Oishi was talking to him, he realised, and a moment later, it occurred to him that Tezuka-buchou was also staring down at them, probably wondering why Momo was sitting in the dirt and looking happy about it.

A moment later, Fuji was looking down at him with a serene sort of smile, and Momo thought that if he ever got glasses, they'd glint even more than Inui's.

Momo figured he should get up then, just in case Fuji said something and he got laps for dirtying his uniform or something weird like that.

As Kaidou walked out of the change room and he walked in, he reflected on the fact that he kind of liked Kaidou's photo looking grumpy.

Not that he'd ever tell him, but it was pretty satisfying to see him flying off the handle. Momo liked to think he reserved some of those scowls and glares just for him. The thought that he was the only person who could affect Kaidou so was kind of nice.

He'd take those photos home and put them somewhere safe, he decided.

Not that he really liked Kaidou or anything.

Just because.

.fin.


End file.
